The Book of Nahum

2

1

He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress,
watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

2

For YAHUVEH restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of
Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their
vine-branches.

3

The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in
scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and
the cypress spears are brandished.

4

The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad
ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the
lightnings.

5

He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste
to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.

6

The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

7

And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her
handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.

8

But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee
away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back.

9

Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no
end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.

10

She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees
smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are
waxed pale.

11

Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young
lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion's whelp, and
none made them afraid?

12

The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for
his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.

13

Behold, I am against thee, saith YAHUVEH of hosts, and I will burn her
chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I
will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers
shall no more be heard.